FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT CHRISTINA KIM - PAGE 2

TENNIS: Spaniard David Ferrer, ranked No. 6, crushed No. 8 Richard Gasquet 6-1, 6-1 Thursday to win the Masters Cup Gold Group and clinch a semifinal berth in Shanghai. Gasquet was eliminated. SOCCER: D.C. United's Luciano Emilio won the Major League Soccer most valuable player award, beating out the New York Red Bulls' Juan Pablo Angel and the Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco. In his first season, Emilio led the league in scoring with 20 goals and led United to the league's best regular-season record.

First-round leader Richard S. Johnson shot a 3- under par 67 and Nick Flanagan had a 7-under 63 to share the second-round lead at 10 under in the U.S. Bank Championship over the 6,579-yard Brown Deer Park Golf Course in Milwaukee. Kent Jones and Gavin Coles were tied for third a shot back of the leaders. Jones shot a 65 and Coles, of Australia, had the low round of the tournament at 62, one shy of the course record. Another stroke back at 132 were Troy Matteson and Ken Duke, who both shot 65. Christina Kim's second- round 68 at the LPGA State Farm Classic looked ordinary compared to her opening 63. But it included a birdie putt on her last hole that gave her a one-stroke lead over the charging Michelle Wie and three others in Springfield, Ill. Kim was the first-day leader but said Friday was, by comparison, a fight.

Vijay Singh--the No. 2 golfer in the world--shot 63 on Saturday to move to 11 under and take the second-round lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. With an eagle on the first hole sparking the best round of the tournament, he took the lead from top-ranked Tiger Woods with back-to-back-birdies on Nos. 12-13 and moved into position to take Woods' No. 1 ranking too. Billy Haas and John Rollins were tied with Woods at 9 under, two strokes back.Woods has held the No. 1 ranking for a record 264 consecutive weeks.

Richard S. Johnson aced the 14th hole on his way to shooting a 63 that gave him a one-stroke lead over the Pappas brothers after the first round of the U.S. Bank Championship on Thursday in Milwaukee. Deane and Brenden Pappas could have become the first brothers to share the lead at a PGA event, but Johnson birdied from about 10 feet on the 18th hole to edge ahead. "It was a nice putt to roll in there," Johnson said. "It probably killed the record for the Pappas brothers." Robert Garrigus, Dean Wilson and Patrick Sheehan were another shot behind.

Nicole Jeray has waited since 1994 to play back in the Chicago area, and she seemed at home Friday at Stonebridge Country Club. The Berwyn native, who last played in the Chicago Challenge at White Eagle Country Club, opened the Kellogg-Keebler Classic with a 3-under-par 69. Jeray, a graduate of Nazareth Academy and Northern Illinois, gave her gallery of family and friends a lot to cheer about. "I think they rooted the ball in the hole for me," Jeray said. "I love playing in Chicago.

It was 15 years ago this week that Tiger Woods made his professional debut in Milwaukee, stepping to the podium with the words "Hello, World" and winning twice in his first seven starts. That was only the start of a dizzying ride —– one that includes 69 other PGA Tour victories, 14 major championships, a wraparound Grand Slam, bouts with injuries and the sex scandal that brought so much crashing down 21 months ago. Asked on Golf Channel's "Morning Drive" what advice he might have told his younger self that day in Milwaukee, Woods was direct: "Life is very difficult.

Michelle Wie described her first Solheim Cup experience as the most fun she has had on a golf course. "Walking down to each green, you felt like you were walking down [No.]18 in contention in a major," she said. "You [multiply] that by 100, and that's what it felt like. The first tee box, it was like nothing I've experienced." Morgan Pressel caught the Solheim buzz even before stepping on the first tee. "I was putting on my shoes and the door was open, and I could hear the U-S-A cheers," she said.

It is virtually impossible to anger Christina Kim on the golf course. Bad lies and lipped out putts are met with equal equanimity by the third-year LPGA pro who tries to live her life by an almost Zen-like creed of be and let be. However, broach the topic of her relationship with her caddie--who happens to be her father, Man Kim--peace, love and understanding fly off into the distance like a well-struck 3-iron. "I get very defensive about my dad," admits Kim, a winner last year on tour and currently 24th on the 2005 LPGA money list.

Carolyn Christina Kim and Eugene Edward Carr were married Sept. 16 in Lake Forest. She is the daughter of Drs. Yoonok and Hikyung Kim of Lake Forest. He is the son of Edward and Jeanette Carr of Grand Rapids, Mich. The bride graduated from Augustana College in Rock Island. She is a quality assurance analyst for the Technology Practice at Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire. The groom graduated from Lake Forest College. He is second vice president corporate real estate for the Northern Trust Company in Chicago.